Thunder Struck
by only here in your arms
Summary: As Clare Edwards is getting ready for her wedding, Eli Goldsworthy comes back into her life. Clare begins questioning her love for her fiance Landon and her feelings for her first love. Will she get married?  COMPLETE
1. Wedding Planning

**Very different story from what I've written before! This just came to me and I knocked this chapter out very very fast. Please review!**

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It was September 20th and Clare was sitting at her bedroom window sill overlooking her backyard where her wedding was going to take place in just a few days. The weather report has said that it was going to be sunny with only a small chance of precipitation. She thanked the Lord for this considering the entire ceremony was going to take place outside and they hadn't ordered a tarp to cover them and their guests.

Clare met Landon during her third year at college. Her roommate Taylor had family visiting her during her birthday and Taylor's cousin Landon showed up at their dorm while Clare was studying for her math test. The two got to talking while waiting for Taylor to come back and three hours after Landon showed up, Taylor finally came and saw that her cousin and her roommate were about to go out to dinner.

"We're hungry," Clare said nervously. "There's no food and you hadn't come yet and we didn't think you'd come soon so I thought I'd show him around here…and eat some dinner."

"You kids have one," Taylor told them. She watched as Landon opened the door for Clare and gave a sweet smile at her direction and mouthed "thank you" along with a thumbs up. Taylor replied with a shoo-ing wave and laughed once Landon closed the door behind him. "Oh those two. They'll be getting married before I know it."

Just two years after graduating college, Clare and Landon were already living together and were already engaged for eight months. Clare always imagined being engaged for at least two years before actually getting married but when Landon's job was going to relocate him several hours away from her childhood home, they decided to get married before they moved.

Clare enlisted her best friend Alli's help for the wedding. Alli was always a sucker for weddings and after her own wedding to Dave, she found wedding planning to be a passion. She started up a wedding planning business and her first client would be Clare Edwards.

Being the religious girl that she was, Clare wanted her wedding to be in her church. Landon wasn't a religious person at all, he was actually an atheist, and refused to be married in a church. Clare still wanted to keep the wedding close to her home so when Alli suggested they hold the ceremony in their large backyard, Clare and Landon finally agreed on the location.

The colors of the wedding would be white and olive green. Clare's favorite color was green but Landon didn't want the wedding to be so bright. Clare found inspiration for the color when she was browsing through bridesmaids dressed and found the perfect olive green color and the perfect bridesmaids dresses in the process. Darcy, Alli, and Taylor all approved of the dress style but were a little skeptical of the dark color. They didn't imagine Clare wanting such a bland and warm color but Clare seemed to be happy with it so they didn't bring it up.

Landon Tarver had a business trip to New York that began a week before his wedding and he would be returning morning before the ceremony. So when Clare and Alli were scrambling to finish the final details of the wedding, Landon was away and wouldn't be able to give his approval.

"I'm sure that it'll be great Clare," Landon said reassuringly as he held his fiancé in his arms. "All of your decisions for the wedding so far has been fantastic. I can see it now. It's going to be wonderful and we'll be married in front of our family and friends. It'll be perfect."

Clare couldn't hold back her smile and leaned up to kiss Landon. "I guess you're right. Don't turn off your phone though. I'll probably call or text occasionally to ask you a question."

"Promise," Landon answered. When he heard a car honk outside of the house, he sighed and pressed his lips to Clare's again. After a few seconds the car honked again. Landon groaned and picked up his two suitcases and carry-on and headed for the door.

"Don't forget about me," Clare said at the door frame as Landon walked down the stone path.

"I couldn't do that," Landon said sweetly. The driver took his suitcases and opened the back door for him. The window rolled down and Landon blew a kiss to Clare who was trying her hardest to hold back her tears. "I'll be back before you know it, Clare. I can't wait to come back and make you my wife."

Clare waved slowly as the car started down the street. The last thing she heard from the car was a loud "I love you" and then it turned the corner and disappeared. Clare sighed and went back into her house and went into the office. She and Landon each had desks in there along with their respective computers. Clare's side of the office was very neat and tidy while Landon's was slightly messy but was, as Landon put it, "an organized mess." Clare turned on her computer and went to her E-mail. She was waiting for an e-mail from her publisher discussing meeting times.

After graduating from college with a degree in English and creative writing, Clare wrote her first novel and was in the process of being published. It was about a high school romance about polar opposites, going through trials and tribulations of getting in trouble and almost dying, and deciding that they would both be better off separate from each other. Whenever Clare proof-read her story, her mind could not help but go back to the boy that inspired her story.

Looking through her e-mail, she froze when she saw the name of the sender of an E-mail titled "Long time no see, Edwards." Elijah Goldsworthy, which was the name on the email rather than Eli, had sent her an email. Anxiously yet nervously, she clicked on the e-mail and began reading what it said:

"_Dear Clare,_

_I received your wedding invitation and I'm sorry for the very short notice but I will certainly be attending. I was away on a trip and just got back to a full mailbox, many dying plants, and your wedding invitation in the midst of the chaos. Although it said to R.S.V.P a month ago, I'm hoping you'll let me come and won't have me kicked out if some usher says that I'm not on the list._"

Clare scoffed and laughed. Eli was still the same.

"_Anyways I wouldn't miss this day for the world. I called Adam to ask if he was going and when he said he would be attending with his girlfriend, I almost crapped my pants. When I left for my business trip, Adam was literally spending all of his time at my apartment whining about not having a girlfriend and now he has one. In just two months I find out that he has a girlfriend that he's crazy about and that you're getting married. I really should not leave town anymore. I miss too much._

_This e-mail is getting quite long and I must be getting off now so I guess I'll end it here. I can't wait to see you Clare and I'm so happy to see that you'll be getting married. You deserve all of the happiness in the world. I also cannot wait to see everyone from Degrassi. It's been a while since we've all seen each other eh? It'll be one big, happy, Degrassi reunion. :)_

_Sincerely,_

_Eli_

_P.S._

_Morty says he misses you. He always liked you more than me. ;)"_

At the end of the e-mail, Clare immediately scrolled up and re-read it. When was he coming? Where will he be saying? Will she see him before the wedding? Was he dating anyone? Clare's mind was racing with questions about the boy she last saw two years ago at Adam's big bash. He finally became an actual he when his final surgery was finished and he and his family threw a gigantic party to officially say goodbye to Gracie and welcome Adam for real. Clare's relationship with Landon wasn't serious at that point and Eli had just broken up with his most recent girlfriend. Adam secretly hoped that this would be the time that his two high school best friends would get back together but that certainly wasn't the case. They barely talked to each other at the party and when they did, Adam was there to witness the awkwardness.

Clare sat at her computer staring at the email blankly and her attention finally turned when she heard her desk phone ringing. Shaking her head, she reached for the phone and didn't even bother looking at the caller I.D.

"Clare Edwards speaking."

"Nice to hear your voice again, Edwards."

"Eli?"

"The one and only."

Clare felt her face flush and her lips turning into a bright smile. She probably shouldn't be this happy to hear Eli's voice but she was and she couldn't help it.

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***Thanks for reading guys! Next chapter will be up ASAP! Please review!**

**P.S. I chose the name Landon because I love it and because of Landon Liboiron. :)**


	2. Prom Memories

**Your reviews were very sweet! I'm glad you're liking the story! Here's the next chapter.**_**  
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_**Prom 2012-**_

Eli looked at himself in front of his mirror. He felt awkward wearing a full suit, differently colored tie and all. His hair was slicked back as well. Clare requested that he didn't spend his entire night pushing his bangs back so instead of cutting his hair he found his mom's bottle of mousse and experimented.

The theme of that year's prom was some kind of underwater thing that Eli couldn't actually remember the name of. Since it was a water theme he figured that Clare would want to wear a blue dress that would beautifully match her gorgeous eyes but that certainly wasn't the case. Clare picked yellow. **Yellow,** out of all colors to pick from the rainbow and in between. Yellow, the brightest color of the spectrum other than white. Yellow, the color Eli had no clothes of whatsoever. Even his home clothes didn't have a speck of yellow.

When he and Adam went to the mall to rent tuxes, Eli couldn't help but laugh at Adam's choice of tie color. "Fiona wanted pink," Adam just mumbled. Adam went to the fitting room with his tux and Eli walked to the tie rack. It had a large variety of colors and Eli saw the yellow ties and sighed. His eyes went to a light silk yellow tie that he didn't find to be a terrible color. So he picked it up and took a picture of it on his phone and sent it to Clare asking if it was the right color. When he got Clare's text back saying "Perfect :)", he paid for it before Adam came out of the fitting room.

"How does it look?" Adam asked once he came out of the tiny room. "Ridiculous?"

"No, you look sharp," Eli said putting a hand on Adam's shoulder. "Fiona would be proud."

"Where's your tux?" Adam asked curiously. "Don't tell me that you'll change the black one to a red one like your Vegas outfit. Clare would totally kill you if she wore a yellow dress and you wore a red suit."

"It'll be black, don't worry," Eli assured his best friend. "Black tux, black shoes, black dress shirt, yellow tie. I just bought it."

"I'm glad you found a way to compromise with Clare. But I was kind of looking forward to you just wearing a black tux and a white dress shirt, that would've been a sight to see," Adam laughed. Eli merely rolled his eyes. He sat down on a nearby couch and sighed when he remembered that this would be one of the final times he'll have guy time with Adam. He would be going off to college soon and be leaving Clare, Adam, and everyone behind at Degrassi when he goes to NYU.

"Stop fantasizing about Clare and let's go," Adam's voice rang through Eli's ears and took him out of his trance. He pushed Adam's shoulder slightly and headed for the door and left the tux store.

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"So why yellow?" Alli asked Clare curiously. They were at Clare's house and Alli was helping her best friend get ready for prom. The year before, Degrassi canceled the 2011 prom considering all of the events that happened during that year. They found that having another dance that year would not be appropriate but promised that prom would be held in 2012.

"I was thinking of the one color I wanted to see Eli wearing and the only color that popped into my mind was yellow," Clare admitted with a smile. "But I'm absolutely positive that he'll probably just wear a black suit and a black dress shirt and probably a yellow tie."

"But at least he'll be wearing yellow," Alli said. Clare nodded her head and turned around once Alli moved the eye shadow brush away from her face. "Clare, you are absolutely stunning!"

Clare's jaw dropped when she saw what she actually looked like. Her makeup was very natural but you could tell that she was wearing glittery eye shadow and was wearing eye liner and mascara. Her hair was pulled back on one side with a small flower that matched her dress and she wore small pearl earrings that she borrowed from her mom. The dress she picked out was modest but more daring than her Vegas dress. It had intricate lace detailing at the top and had a neckline that went straight across the middle of her chest and the sleeves hung over her shoulders. It was very flowy and moved nicely when she walked. She also wore quite comfortable heels and opted for just a 1 ½ inch heels so she didn't have to take her shoes off and walk on the dirty gym floor with her bare feet.

"Eli won't be able to keep his eyes off you, or his hands for that matter," Alli said suggestively as her eyebrows went up and down.

"Don't be silly Alli," Clare replied as she laughed. "He's seen me in dresses before."

"Not for prom though," Alli pointed out. "This is your first prom together! It's going to be so special! I'm just hoping he got a limo so you won't have to ride that hearse there."

"His name is _Morty_," Clare said slowly. She grew attached to Eli's hearse and found it to be very original and very Eli. It definitely stands out and her parents almost had a heart attack when they saw Morty pull up at Clare's for their very first date a year and a few months ago.

"Well _Morty_ better not be the car pulling up here in thirty minutes. Come on, let's get the finishing touches done and then you'll be all ready for your first prom!"

Standing outside of the Edwards house with a small box in his hand, Eli took a very deep breath in, adjusted his coat, and then rang the door bell. It would be a minute until he finally heard a voice and the lock unlocking. He didn't think Clare would be the one to open the door so when Alli appeared, he wasn't surprised.

"Oh my gosh, Eli. You're not wearing all black!"

Eli laughed and walked into the house when Alli pulled the door back more, letting him inside. "It's prom right? Clare wanted yellow and I picked out yellow. I thought it would look lame on me but I don't think it's half bad."

"You look great," Alli said. She eyed the box Eli held. "Oooh, is that a corsage?"

"Of course it is. I picked a yellow rose with black ribbon and a black band. Compromise."

"Of course," Alli rolled her eyes.

Clare's mom came down the stairs holding her camera and smiled brightly when she saw her daughter's date. "Eli, you look very handsome! How about a picture of you two whilst we wait for Clare to come down?" Helen suggested. Eli loosely put his free arm around Alli's waist and smirked, per usual. A few minutes later, Eli heard footsteps coming down the stairs and Alli and Helen ran to the bottom of the staircase and Helen started clicking the camera button endlessly.

Eli, who's palms grew sweatier with every second, walked slowly towards the stairs and looked up to see a vision in yellow coming down the stairs. Eli felt breathless and shocked at the gorgeous wonder that stood before him and immediately loved the fact that Clare picked yellow.

"You look absolutely breathtaking Clare," Eli said once Clare got to the bottom of the staircase. "You're a vision in yellow."

Clare smiled brightly. "And you…" she curiously eyed Eli's outfit. "You should start wearing yellow more often."

"I will if you will," Eli promised with an actual smile. He leaned down to give Clare a chaste kiss which only lasted a few seconds because Helen and Alli's squeals of joy were a little distracting.

"Let's take pictures!" Helen said enthusiastically and Clare groaned inwardly but Eli just kept smiling.

"Do we have to?" Clare whined. "Eli hates taking pictures."

"It's prom Clare, picture taking is a part of it and therefore we must abide by the rules. Now you just stand there and be you," Eli said as he moved to stand slightly behind Clare. His arms wrapped around her stomach and he held her tightly to him and smelled the fruity shampoo of her hair. As Helen and Alli were trying to figure out the best place to stand to get the right picture, Eli leaned down and whispered in Clare's ear.

"I love you."

Clare tilted her head slightly to look Eli in the eyes. "I love you too."

Their lips pressed together until they heard the camera button being pressed. "Perfect shot!" Clare and Eli pulled apart and blushed and situated themselves again for the pictures.

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"Well…that wasn't quite as terrible as I thought it would be."

Morty was parked at a large hill while Eli and Clare sat in the front seat, looking over the city. Clare's corsage and Eli's boutonniere were curled at the ends and Clare's hair was out of place just slightly. Her shoes were off and she sat with her feet under her. Eli's tie was loosened and his shirt and vest were un-tucked.

"I _told_ you that it wouldn't be terrible," Clare replied with her "I told you so" voice. "Aren't you glad that I picked yellow? Everyone else was either wearing blue or green. We stood out."

A smile spread across Eli's face. "I guess we did," he said. "I saw how the guys were looking at you. It felt great being with the most beautiful girl at Degrassi."

"Did you take Anya and not tell me?" Clare joked. Eli leaned over and grasped his girlfriend's hand in his. The fact that he referred to her as his girlfriend and didn't even think twice about it was still strange to him. After he and Clare became official, he would sometimes go back and think about Julia but several months later, his mind was Clare 24/7.

"I can't believe that this school year's almost over," Clare breathed. "It's been one eventful year."

"It has," Eli agreed. "Coming to Degrassi is the best thing that could've happened to me."

"Even considering Vegas night?" Clare asked. That night had been long gone but it has yet to be forgotten since it was the reason for the uniform policy still in effect.

"Even then," Eli said. "It made me change my actions and made me realize that I'd have to change for you. I'm glad that Fitz and I finally put it behind us."

"Me too." Clare scooted closer to Eli and he answered by wrapping his arms around her. He pulled her to him and put his head against hers and closed his eyes and took in the moment.

"I can't believe you're leaving in a month," Clare said sadly. Eli opened his eyes quickly.

"Month and a half…if that helps at all," Eli tried to say in a happy voice.

Clare sniffled and wiped her eye from a stray tear. "It doesn't."

Eli shifted and held Clare so he would look in her eyes. "Clare, not a day will go by without me thinking about you. We have to make the next several weeks the best ever and we'll figure it out as we go, okay? I love you so much and whatever happens in the future, I will always love you. No girl can ever compare to you. I ran over your glasses and you still fell for me. I made you scream in front of strangers near The Dot and you still fell for me. I acted like a jerk and you gave me a second chance. No one, and I mean that, no one could replace you in my heart. Clare Dianna Edwards, I love you like no other. Forever."

Clare couldn't help but let go of the tears that were brimming her eyes and she smiled and kissed Eli as she held his head in her hands. Wiping the tears away at the same time, Eli kissed back with enthusiasm but also controlled himself. They _were_ in the car after all. If he tried to press on more, it would be very uncomfortable considering the amount of space they had.

"I love you so much," Clare whispered against Eli's lips. "You're my everything."

Pressing a chaste kiss to Clare's lips, Eli kept his forehead against Clare's. "Always and forever, Clare."

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**Present Day-**

"Are you free? I'm craving a Dot burger and since I'm in the area for your wedding, I thought you accompanying me there would be appropriate," Eli told Clare over the phone.

Clare was still amazed at the fact that she was hearing Eli's voice but snapped out of it quickly and answered. "I'm actually not free right now. What about later tonight? Around 7, maybe?"

"That works too," Eli said. "But since you're making me wait a few more hours, you're paying."

Clare rolled her eyes. _He was definitely the same_. "Sure Eli. Burgers on me."

"I'm just kidding of course. A lady never pays. I'll see you then, Edwards."

"Bye Eli."

Clare put the receiver down and sat back in her computer chair. She was still smiling like a school girl and replayed the conversation in her head over and over, remembering Eli's voice perfectly in her head. Not knowing what else to do at that moment, she dialed a number.

"Alli, you'll never guess who just called me."

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***Please review! I hope you guys like the flashback! Reviews = updates!**

**Who's stoked for the new episode coming out this Friday? I cannot wait. My best friend and I are being totally obnoxious in school and always talk about Degrassi. We're going crazy waiting for Love Lockdown!**


	3. Contemplation

Clare was more nervous that she thought she would be. Actually, she was more nervous that she **should** be. When she called Alli, her best friend's reaction was a lot different that she thought that it would be. Clare thought that Alli would be asking why Eli would be calling but instead, Clare was given a high pitched shriek that made her cover her ears.

"Oh my gosh! What are you gonna wear?" Alli had squealed. "What did he say exactly? Oh my gosh, this is great!"

"What are you? Sixteen again? How is this great?" Clare asked.

Alli scoffed. "Because you guys are friends and you were so disappointed and messed up when Eli decided just to be friends. You're kind of a wreck without him. You have seem like you have your act together now but I know deep down inside you've been wanting him to come back into your life."

_It was during Eli's first year of college at NYU when he decided to break it off with Clare. But he didn't do it over the phone. Clare was going to New York for Eli's birthday and on the last night of her visit Eli told her the dreaded news over dinner. He knew that it was terrible to break things off with her after spending a great weekend with her but he had no choice. It was either be a douche and do it over the phone or be a man and tell her in person._

"_Clare," Eli's voice turned serious and Clare looked up at him from her food. She could see that things were wrong and she immediately got worried._

"_What's wrong Eli?" she asked. In the back of her mind she knew what was coming after seeing how distant he was the past few days but she hoped that it was just her being paranoid rather than what she was thinking._

"_I think…umm…" he took a deep breath "Clare, I think that we should stop seeing each other."_

_Clare's heart dropped into her stomach. She felt like she couldn't breathe and all of the muscles in her body froze and she couldn't move at all. The one thing she was trying to do now was to control her tears that were threatening to pour out of her eyes._

What did I do wrong? _she thought. _Am I too young, too naïve, too tame? Did he meet someone else?

"_But…why?" she choked out and covered her mouth and looked down to control herself._

_While Clare wasn't looking, Eli quickly took his thumb and ran it under his eyes to wipe the tears. "I thought that the long distance thing was going to work but I see how it's taking a toll on the both of us. We only see each other twice a year Clare. We said that we'd call and Skype but we're so busy that even that we can't do. I love you so much but when you go to Banting next year, you're gonna get even more busy and we'll have less time together."_

"_I can't believe this," Clare whispered to herself. "Long distance relationships __**are**__ supposed to be hard but you promised me that we'll make it work. You __**promised**__me, Eli. You promised me everything."_

"_I know," Eli tried to reach for Clare's hand but she pulled away quickly. "I'm so sorry."_

_Not wanting to hear anymore, Clare stood up and headed for the door. "Clare, wait. Come on, you don't have to leave," Eli pleaded. He ran after her but Clare squirmed away from him when he tried to catch her. "Your flight is in the morning, where are you gonna go now? You don't know your way around!"_

_Clare grabbed her suitcase and all of her things as quickly as she could from the guest bedroom and pushed past Eli when she opened the door back up and ran down the stairs. "Clare, where are you going? You can't just leave now! It's 9 o'clock and it's not safe for you to be walking around here."_

"_I'll figure it out," Clare mumbled loud enough for Eli to hear and she headed towards the front door of the apartment. Before she got the door open, Eli moved in between her and the door, stopping her from moving forward._

"_It's not safe, Clare," Eli said sternly. "Just stay for the night and I'll drive you to the airport tomorrow morning however early you want. You're not leaving here by yourself."_

"_You have no right to make any decisions for me," Clare responded with a voice so vile that it shocked Eli tremendously. "Even if we were still together. You can't tell me that I can't do something. I want to go to leave now. I want to go to the airport now and book an earlier flight. If there isn't an earlier flight then I will stay at the airport until my flight in the morning. I want to get out of here. Just let me go and I won't be in your life again. Isn't that what you want?"_

"_That's not what I want Clare!" Eli almost yelled. "Us being long distance isn't doing any good for us! I still want you in my life as a friend Clare and maybe once we're done with school, we can pick things up again."_

_Clare didn't speak for a minute and just had her arms over her chest and looked to her side. "I'm not waiting for you. If I have to wait for you to want me again, it might take years and I don't want to wait. I'm not gonna waste me life waiting for you. It's either you want me now or you don't want me at all."_

_Eli took a slight step back and stared at Clare. He was so surprised by her bluntness. Her words cut him like a knife and even though he didn't want to say the words he was gonna say, he knew that he didn't have a choice. "I guess this is it then."_

_Clare shut her eyes and pressed her lips together. "I guess it is," she said in a cracked voice._

_She went to grab her suitcase again and opened the door. This time Eli didn't stop her._

"Clare, you need him in your life. You just cut him off right after you broke up and you've never been the same bubbly, spirited Clare," Alli said sadly. She made a valid point. After that dreaded day, Clare stopped being so cheery. She still excelled at school but she only talked to Adam and Alli at school and rarely left the house. At one point she went to go to the Ravine but was met with a picture of J.T. Yorke that happened to be flying in her direction. She immediately turned back to her house and never left it again except to go to school related things or go to Alli's house.

"I just fear that seeing him will…" Clare began but she stopped talking.

"…bring feelings back that you've repressed for so long?" Alli finished Clare's sentence.

"Yeah," Clare sighed. "It scares me."

"I know it does," Alli replied sadly. "You love Landon don't you?"

Clare took a few seconds to respond and that made Alli wonder. "I do."

"Then you shouldn't have to worry about anything, _right?_"

"Right…"

Alli could sense the hesitation in Clare's tone and Clare, although she'd never admit it, saw it too. She hesitated and her voice was unsure. This made Clare even more scared and nervous now.

"It's just like going to see Declan after a few years," Alli said. "Remember when he tweeted you when he said he'd be visiting Banting? And you guys met up for dinner and you were all nervous because you were for sure that he'd bring up the neck kissing thing? He brought it up and you guys just laughed about it. You said that it wasn't awkward at all."

"Yeah but I didn't have a three year relationship with Declan," Clare pointed out. "This is different."

"Yeah but not that much different," Alli said. "Just…go take a bubble bath and relax and get ready like you normally would if you where going out to dinner with me. Then drive to The Dot, sit at a table, and talk like adults. It'll be fine, I promise."

Clare took a deep breath and relaxed. "I guess you're right."

"I know I'm right," Alli laughed. "Now go."

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Clare sat in her car for a few minutes parked a block away from The Dot. It wasn't because she was nervous, it was just the only parking space that was available. She was sad when she didn't see Morty parked anywhere nearby. Was he here or did he have a new car? When she saw that the time was 7:10, she got out of the car and walked quickly to the restaurant. Walking inside, she smiled because whenever she went back to The Dot, it always reminded her of her Degrassi days. She spent so much time here hanging out and studying and having dates and it was always a big rush of memories that came rushing back.

Looking around, she slowly tried to find Eli. When she didn't spot him she took a seat at the counter and was given a menu right away.

"Can I get you a drink?" the waiter asked. He strangely looked like Peter and it made Clare happy.

"Just an ice tea please," Clare replied.

"Make that two."

Clare whipped her head around and saw Eli just taking his leather jacket off and sitting down on the bar stool next to her and with a smirk on his face. "Sorry I'm late," he sighed. "Traffic. I live downtown now and I think there's some kind of hockey game going on and it took forever to get here. Hope you weren't waiting long."

"No, I just got here too," Clare replied. She found herself more comfortable than she thought she would be. "How've you been?"

"I've been pretty good, busy with work and all but I got the week off when I told my boss that I was attending my sister's wedding. A little lie won't hurt," Eli replied simply. Clare couldn't help but smile.

"So you used _my_ wedding to get out of a week of work? Same old Eli," Clare chuckled.

"Hey, this is a momentous event! I think it deserves a week off work," Eli said. "I have to find the perfect outfit, perfect shoes, get my hair done, and all that lovely stuff!"

"Just make sure you don't look better than me at my own wedding," Clare joked back.

"No promises there Edwards," Eli smirked. Then his smile went away. "In a few days…I can't say that anymore, can I?"

Clare was confused until she realized what Eli meant. "Oh yeah. I guess not. It'll be Tarver after the wedding."

"That'll take a while to get used to," Eli replied, pursing his lips to the side. There was a silence between them that lasted for a minute until the waiter came back and took their orders. They both got the same thing and went back to silence once the waiter left.

"So…I'm glad we're talking," Clare said a little awkwardly. "I guess we didn't really leave on good terms."

"We didn't," Eli said sadly. "But now that we're both more mature and older, I'm also glad that we're in contact. If I had missed your wedding, I would've been really disappointed. I'm glad you invited me."

"A party would not be complete without the presence of Eli Goldsworthy," Clare smiled.

Eli smirked and looked down at his hands. "So how'd you meet…Landon, was it?"

"Yeah," Clare nodded her head. "We met through my college roommate. He's her cousin actually and he came to visit and we met and it just went from there. It's been a few years since then and now here we are."

"Yes…here we are," Eli agreed slowly.

"What about you? Any girls?" Clare asked curiously. Since Eli had asked about her love life, it was only fair that she asked him.

"Not at the moment," Eli shrugged. "It's been a while actually. But I guess I like being on my own. Get my life together now, get married later."

Clare nodded in understanding. Their food came and the two started talking and eating. They talked about their Degrassi days and Adam and who it was that he would be bringing to Clare's wedding. Clare thought that it would be Fiona and Eli believed that it would be a different girl. They put twenty bucks on it and shook hands.

"In one day I'll be getting married and be twenty bucks richer," Clare said confidently.

"Poorer would be correct," Eli shot back playfully. "Fiona's travelling the world as a charity ambassador. There's no way Adam's girlfriend would be Fiona."

"You'll see, Fiona will be coming into the ceremony in a much more expensive dress than mine and will look a million times more beautiful than me **and** be on Adam's arm. Just you wait and see," Clare replied confidently.

"There's no way she could look more beautiful than you," Eli said softly.

"That's sweet," Clare replied just as softly.

There was an awkward pause until the waiter came back with the check and set it in between the two. They both reached for it and when their skin touched each others, electricity shot through both and they took their hand away as if they just touched fire.

"Uh…I got the check," Eli cleared his throat. "I told you that a lady never pays."

"Fine then," Clare said awkwardly. Eli put the cash into the check and left it on the bar and they both headed for the door. Eli went faster to open the door for Clare who smiled and walked through it. Once they reached the sidewalk, they faced each other.

Clare was gonna say her goodbye but Eli began talking first. "Can I see you again tomorrow? I want to show you something that I've been working on."

"Sure," Clare said in a heartbeat. "Where and when should we meet up?"

"Here," Eli said and held out a piece of paper to her. "Take this clue and you'll see where and when we'll meet up." Clare slowly took the note but didn't open it just yet.

"Okay, well I'll see you tomorrow then," Eli said and motioned for Clare to give him a hug. Clare wrapped her arms around Eli's neck tighter than she should've and they held each other for longer than they should've. When they both pulled away at the same time, they looked into each others' eyes deeply.

"See you tomorrow," Clare laughed awkwardly and turned around and headed to her car. She really really wanted to turn around and see if Eli was still watching her but she stopped herself and just walked to her car.

* * *

In her bed later that evening, she stared at the small note that Eli had given her. The Dead Hand was playing from her iPod dock softly. Taking a deep breath, she unfolded the note slowly and in Eli's messy scrawl, the note said:

"_Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,  
That I shall say good night till it be morrow."_

And underneath it said:

"_7 A.M. Don't be late_."

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**Hope you guys enjoy the chapter! Please review and tell me what you think!**


	4. Lake House

**Long chapter! Hope you enjoy!**

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Clare made her way to the park near Degrassi around 6:50 A.M. The sky was still pretty dark and no soul was on the streets. A few cars would pass by but as far as Clare knew, everyone was still sleeping on that Saturday morning on which Eli told her to meet him at the Romeo and Juliet picnic table at 7 A.M.

After reading the note, Clare remembered the day when she and Eli shared their first kiss. Even though it was for a project and Adam was filming their every move, to them it meant everything. Or so Clare thought. Just a day after that, Eli was distant and Clare contemplated letting him go. But then Eli poured his deepest secret to Clare about the death of his ex-girlfriend.

The beginning of their relationship was a rocky one but once the problems began to die down, the two of them were inseparable. They had the perfect relationship that everyone at Degrassi envied. But then their demise came eventually.

Clare could never forget though. She did her best to move on from Eli when he broke her heart but she turned down a dark path. Whenever she spent her weekends at her dad's house, she'd sneak out at night to spend time with the boy who lived next door to her dad. His name was Austin, a senior, and got into a lot of trouble. Many times he'd be having parties at his house, with alcohol, drugs, and all, and Clare would experiment. She drank her troubles away and found comfort in Austin. But never did she take things too far. Her virginity was still intact when she left high school and even to this day, just a few days before her wedding day, Clare Edwards was still a virgin.

Sitting at the picnic table, Clare thought about when Eli told her that he wasn't a virgin. He didn't say it directly but it was implied when he said that Julia stayed over his house many times. Clare practically threw herself at Eli after that but she was rejected.

She understood eventually but that doesn't mean that it didn't hurt.

Her faith in God lessened after her parents divorced and she didn't believe in waiting until marriage anymore but when it came to getting intimate with Landon, something always held her back. Landon assumed that Clare wanted to wait considering she still wore that cross ring on her right hand but he assumed wrong. Clare didn't want to wait but something always held her back.

Hearing footsteps nearing, Clare whipped her head around and saw that Eli was coming towards her wearing the same leather jacket as the day before with a white shirt underneath with a red scarf around his neck. _The red scarf_. Clare loved that red scarf.

"I'm glad you deciphered the note," Eli said smiling as he stood in front of Clare. "Let's get going. If we don't, we'll be late."

"How is it possible that we could be late for anything at 7 A.M on Saturday morning?" Clare asked curiously as she followed Eli.

"Less questions, more walking," he said simply.

When Clare saw Morty at the end of the street, she squealed and ran to the car as if Morty was a long lost friend. She put her arms over the top and rest her head against the cold metal. "Oh how I've missed you, Morty. You're the reason why I'm able to fix cars!"

Eli chuckled to himself and walked over to the passenger side to open the door. Clare climbed into the car and was relieved to see that it hadn't changed a bit. Eli came into the driver's side and turned on the engine and began to drive.

"Why is it that I didn't get that kind of enthusiastic greeting yesterday?" Eli questioned.

"I haven't seen you for a few years but I haven't seen Morty since you left for New York," Clare replied. "You kept him in your parents garage and therefore hidden away and I haven't seen him for what? Seven years? And he's the reason why I can change a tire, change oil, fix the engine, and all that fun things."

"Obviously you don't remember who actually _taught_ you how to do all those things," Eli reminded Clare. "I'm the reason why you can fix cars. And I taught you _other_ things too, if you didn't recall."

Clare saw that smug smirk on Eli's face from her peripheral vision and she rolled her eyes and looked out her window. She saw that Eli was already driving out of the area as trees were the only thing that she could see at this point. Her curiosity was firing up and in her mind she was imagining where Eli would be talking her.

* * *

"_I don't understand why I have to wear a blind fold."_

"_It wouldn't be a good surprise if you weren't wearing a blind fold."_

"_I hate surprises."_

"_I know."_

_In Eli's hearse, Clare sat in the front seat blindfolded as Eli drove seemingly fast. Once in a while, Eli would kiss the back of Clare's hand to assure her that she was safe. The car stopped eventually and Clare was helped out of the car still blindfolded. She felt herself being softly pushed to Morty and her back rested on the side of the car._

"_Do you still trust me?" Eli's whisper made goosebumps appear on Clare's arm. His face was seemingly very close to Clare's and she couldn't help but feel a little intimidated._

"_Yes," she replied nervously._

_Then she felt Eli's lips on hers and he gave her a very passionate kiss. Their bodies pressed together tightly as Eli spread Clare's lips with his own and went to town on her mouth. One of his hands was behind Clare's neck to pull her lips close to his and his other arm was wrapped around her hips. Clare's hands were resting on Eli's shoulders as she couldn't focus on pulling him closer. All she could focus on were Eli's lips and his tongue._

_A full ten minutes later, Eli finally pulled back and took a deep breath. Clare was practically heaving at this point at the loss of air. Not that she minded. Not one bit._

"_So was that the surprise or is there something else?" Clare said jokingly._

_Eli scoffed and ran his fingers along Clare's face slowly until he got to the blindfold. Taking it off slowly, the first thing Clare saw were the glistening green eyes of Eli Goldsworthy. It was dark outside but Eli's eyes were still shining._

"_Have I told you that you have beautiful eyes?" Clare spurted out. She would've been embarrassed but for some reason, she wasn't._

"_No but thank you very much," Eli replied smiling and kissed Clare's lips chastely. "Come on, as much as I love this moment I actually have something to show you."_

_Grabbing Clare's hand and intertwining their fingers, Eli walked Clare down a path in the woods. Clare never liked going into unfamiliar places especially in the dark so Eli pulled Clare closer to him and wrapped his arm tightly around her waist. Clare responded by putting her arm around Eli's waist and the two walked down the forest path together. At the end of the path, Clare was met with a surprise._

_A picnic was laid out on the open field with candles lit and a picnic basket open, seemingly full with Clare's favorites._

"_Happy six month anniversary," Eli said cheerfully. "Sorry it's not a tattoo parlor."_

"_This is much better. You're so sweet," Clare said excitedly and pulled Eli's head down for a short kiss. Then she ran to the blanket and sat, already smiling at the spread Eli had prepared._

* * *

"Did you fall asleep on me or something? I can't believe how boring I got!"

Clare blinked and turned her head around and saw Eli giving her a weird look. "I didn't fall asleep," she told him. "I was just thinking."

"About what?" Eli inquired.

"Nothing important," Clare sighed. "Wedding details."

"Oh," Eli said. There was a hint of disappointment in his voice that Clare picked up. "Well that's understandable. The wedding _is_ in four days."

"Right. Four days," Clare said slowly.

Eli arched a brow and turned his head slightly. "Nervous?"

Clare turned her head to Eli. "Is that bad?"

"Depends on why you're nervous," Eli replied. "Any particular reason why?"

"No," Clare shook her head and turned her gaze to the window again. "No particular reason."

"Are you sure?"

_No. You're why I'm nervous._ "Yeah, I'm sure. Just pre-wedding nerves."

"If you need to talk to someone…remember that I'm here, okay? Just because we haven't talked in a while doesn't mean I don't care about you," Eli assured her. "A place to crash, a shoulder to cry on, someone to vent to, that's me."

"Thanks," Clare smiled. "It's kind of cold, do you mind turning the air conditioning down?"

"But it'll be too hot if I turn it down," Eli almost whined.

"Says the guy wearing a heavy leather jacket," Clare pointed out. "I, on the other hand, have this very thin sweater."

"Fine fine," Eli groaned. He set the air conditioner down and carefully took his jacket and scarf off. The first thing Clare noticed was the tiny tattoo on Eli's left bicep. It said "_Cecilia_" in a fancy script and it was very small but still all too noticeable for Clare.

"Happy now?" Eli asked with a grin.

"Yes, thank you," Clare replied with her chin held up. Eli shook his head and chuckled.

About twenty minutes later, Eli parked Morty in a small space between the road and the forest. Clare couldn't help but think of the picnic moment and wondered if Eli was bringing her to another picnic but thought that the chances of that was very slim. Then her mind wandered to the one night where she was intoxicated and ended up in the forest passed out. She vaguely remembered this random boy on top of her and him being thrown off of her by Adam, who saved her from turning down Darcy's dark path. This was five months after Clare and Eli's break up and the peak of Clare's rebellion. After that, Clare went back to her pre-Eli days.

The two got out of the car and Eli started walking into the forest but Clare still stood frozen near the car.

"What's wrong?" Eli asked as he walked back to Clare.

"I don't…I don't like walking through forests," Clare said nervously.

"Oh," Eli turned his head down. "There's something I really want to show you but…I guess we don't have to go. We can leave."

Clare saw how disappointed Eli really was. He really wanted to show her something. Feeling terrible, Clare took a deep breath and said, "No, we can go." She walked towards the path first and walked very slowly into the forest. She could hear Eli's footsteps close behind her and that made her a little better.

But when she heard rustling through the trees, she jumped, paused, then took a few steps back.

"Nevermind, I want to go now," Clare frantically said and started backwards again. But she barely took two steps until Eli caught Clare's hand and brought her to him.

"It's okay," Eli assured her. "It's okay. We're more than halfway there. You can make it."

Clare looked down at her and Eli's hands together and felt tingling in her fingers. For some reason this made her body relax entirely and she and Eli walked hand in hand down the rest of the path.

"I've been working on something for the past three years and just a few days ago, it was finished and you were the first person I wanted to show," Eli said as they neared the end of the path. At the end, Clare saw a beautiful lake house.

It was gigantic and futuristic. The entire bottom level of the house was glass while the upper level was walled closed. There was a smaller third level also. It wasn't on the lake, it was next to it, and it was the only house nearby.

"You made this?" Clare asked astonished. "This is amazing!"

She walked closer to it and looked at every exterior detail. From the outside you could see the kitchen and living room of the first level of the house and there was a patio wrapped around the back of the house over the lake.

"Can we go inside?" Clare said excitedly. Eli gestured for her to go inside and she squealed and ran towards the door.

Eli walked into the house a minute after Clare and admired his work. Having designed the house from the foundation to the top and hired his uncle's construction company to execute his plan, he was very proud of himself. The house was already furnished as well and he planned to move into the house eventually but first we wanted to be married.

After finishing the house, the first person he thought of was Clare. He had been telling Adam all about the house and sent him pictures of the construction and told Adam that he could see it eventually but wanted to show Clare first. So when Clare contacted him about her wedding and realized he'd be in town near Clare, he thought that it would be the perfect time to show her his hard work.

Eli never told Clare about his dream to be an architect. She always assumed that he wanted to be a writer considering how well he wrote but inside he was an artist who dreamed of making perfect houses.

After his grandfather passed away and left his entire estate to his only grandchild, Eli inherited a lot of money. Enough money for to make hundreds of gigantic houses. So he put his main focus on creating his dream home.

"I can't believe how amazing this place is." Eli turned around and saw Clare coming down the stairs.

"Did you go to the third level?" Eli asked.

"There's a third level?" Clare gasped. She bolted up the stairs as Eli laughed and followed her. Clare was met with a door at the top of the stairs of the third level and she opened it and saw a small room with a blanket laid down on the ground with a familiar picnic basket.

"I thought I'd at least provide breakfast," Eli appeared behind her at the door frame.

"That's so sweet," Clare smiled and sat crosslegged on the blanket. Eli sat in front of her and opened the picnic basket. There were two Styrofoam containers inside and Clare could already smell the familiar Dot pancake and eggs.

"I paid the cook extra to make it so early," Eli explained. "Then I drove here, dropped it off, then went to see you. I've been up since 5 o'clock."

"Ouch," Clare laughed. "You didn't have to get breakfast."

"I didn't think making you wake up so early and bringing you here without some food was fair," he replied. "Do you like the surprise? The house, I mean."

"It's gorgeous," Clare said after taking a bite of her food. "I mean, look at this scenery. This is the perfect place to have a house. Away from all the commotion, living in peace. This is my dream place to live! It's like you went into my dreams and just took the entire blueprint of my dream house."

"Are you and Landon going to stay in your house right now or are you gonna buy a new house once you get married?" Eli inquired.

"I haven't thought about it," Clare said sadly. "I've been so focused on the wedding rather than the stuff afterwards. But I guess we'd have to buy a new place if we have kids. The place only has two bedrooms."

"_If?_" Eli said a little shocked. "I thought that you wanted like, five kids."

"Landon's not really a kid person," Clare sighed. "Whenever Darcy comes over with her adopted son Mark, Landon likes to get out of the house. But he said he'd consider it."

Eli couldn't believe what Clare was saying. Clare loved kids. She wanted so many of them. And she was so close to marrying a man who may or may not want kids. Eli knew that Clare would not be happy if she didn't have at least a few. He remembered this one time when Clare talked about what she would name her five future kids.

* * *

"_So…let's say we get married in the future. I wouldn't have a say?" Eli asked curiously as he and Clare laid on his bed._

"_You can pick the middle names. The first names are mine," Clare answered._

"_How many kids are you planning to have?"_

"_Well, I want at least three. The names are Adam, Julian, and Arianna. In that order. Two boys first then a girl," Clare said proudly._

"_Adam? Really?" Eli's smile came on his lips._

"_Well yeah," Clare said as if it was obvious. "He's been a great friend through everything and I think it would be appropriate."_

"_Well I like them," Eli said, tightening his fingers around Clare's. "I say we get married now and have the kids so you don't forget the names."_

"_Yeah, because having three kids at 17 is so smart," Clare rolled her eyes. "Maybe in like, 7 years."_

"_Seven years it is then."_

* * *

"Oooh, are these chocolate covered strawberries?" Clare said as she lifted a plastic container from the bottom of the picnic basket. But before she could open it, it was snatched out of her hand.

"Give them back!" Clare said and walked towards Eli.

"Nope," he joked around, walking away from her.

"Eli, I want some strawberries! Come on, please—" Eli's back was pressed up against the wall with Clare's arm in his free hand and her face so close to his. He could feel her breath near his lips and their eyes were searching each others. Their faces had blank expressions but their eyes shifted from each other's eyes to each other's lips.

Before they knew it, the strawberries were long forgotten and their lips were pressed up to each others.

* * *

Clare found herself wrapping her arms around Eli's neck to pull him much closer and Eli's arms were tightly around Clare's waist. Her back was now on the wall instead of Eli's and there was no space between their bodies.

Eli worked his lips against Clare's fervently and Clare replied with the same kind of enthusiasm. She made almost moaning noises in between kisses and she felt like she was a teenager again. Their tongues danced with each other for several minutes until Eli pulled back and placed his lips along Clare's jawline and neck.

Clare felt her skin getting hot under Eli's lips and his control. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head as Eli found her sweet spot just under her ear. It was as if he remembered after all those years. When Eli's teeth slightly bit her tender skin, she moaned so loud that she even surprised herself.

She took a hold of Eli's head and pulled his lips to hers again. Her hands went into Eli's hair and pulled hard, earning a delicious groan from her once lover. And suddenly, the moment was over as Clare pushed Eli away from her with wide eyes and a flustered expression.

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**Please review! Thanks for reading! The story will conclude in just a few more chapters!**


	5. In The Past

**Get ready for a roller coaster of a chapter. OH AND UMBRELLA PT. 2 WAS AMAZING. Just thought I'd throw that out there. **

**Oh and go read my new one-shot "Tonight I Love You". I promise you'll enjoy.**

**Okay, now onto the chapter.**

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Standing across from each other, as they both looked muffled with their clothes wrinkled, Clare kept her gaze to the ground as Eli stared at her intently. Neither couldn't believe what just happened between them but both had different reactions.

Clare was shocked and felt absolutely terrible. Eli, on the other hand, felt exhilarated and wanted more.

"Clare, if you don't talk anytime soon I'm gonna have to make you respond one way or another," Eli said with a slight suggestive tone. He was doing this in order to lighten the mood a little bit but obviously it didn't work. Clare was still staring at the ground.

"I have to go," she said out of nowhere. She bolted for the door, down the stairs, down the other flight of stairs, and ran towards the front door. Eli was on her heels and followed her outside of the house.

"How do you think you're gonna get home unless I drive you?" Eli said once they were both on the forest path.

"I'll walk," Clare mumbled.

Sighing, Eli reached and grabbed Clare's arm and tried to stop her from moving. She tried to move out of Eli's hold but he had her by her shoulders tightly. "Let me go, please," Clare pleaded. She tried to flail her arms but to no avail. "Eli, please."

"No, we have to talk about this," Eli said.

"No we don't," Clare replied sharply. "Can you just drive me home?"

"I'm not driving you home until we talk about this! We kissed Clare. Actually, we did more than kiss. We passionately kissed and it seemed like you were really enjoying yourself," Eli reminded her.

"I was not," Clare scoffed as she wiggled out of Eli's grip. He finally let go of her shoulders. "I was not enjoying myself."

"Really? So what were those noises? Clare, you can't deny the fact that there's still something going on between us. What happened in there doesn't just happen."

Clare stared at Eli with an almost vicious stare. How is it that he didn't feel a little bit guilty? Clare felt absolutely terrible and she almost wanted to slap Eli for looking at her with his beautiful eyes, practically hypnotizing her with his loving stares. She couldn't be thinking all of these wrong thoughts about her ex-boyfriend. **He** broke up with **her**. **She** shouldn't have any feelings for **him**. Not now. Not when she was so close to marrying a man she loved. No, she wasn't going to forget everything just to throw herself at a man who broke her heart. She had more pride than that. She was stronger than that. She was Clare Edwards, damnit, and she had more self control than that.

"Well it's not going to happen again," Clare said sternly. "It'll never happen again and we won't speak of it again. Not now, not ever, not to anyone. I love Landon, okay? I'm going to marry him. He's never hurt me, he's never given up on me, and I deserve someone who actually loves me. And he loves me."

Eli ran a hand through his hair and looked up at Clare with serious eyes. "I didn't hear you say anything about that kiss meaning nothing."

"It meant nothing!" Clare shouted, causing Eli to step back slightly. "It meant nothing to me! I don't know what you want me to say, Eli. I don't love you anymore and I just caught up in that moment. It meant nothing, you mean nothing, okay? I shouldn't have asked you to come. I knew something like this would happen. You would come and make trouble in my perfectly good life. That's what you do to me Eli. You come into my life and change everything. I was perfectly fine being the good girl in school and you come and run over my glasses and suddenly, my life isn't simple. And I thought that was a good thing at the time. I would actually be normal, I would actually have a life, but then you get us into trouble, you break my heart, then you'd sweep me off my feet again and boom, we're together. I helped you with so much and I thought you loved me but you broke my heart into a million pieces when you broke up with me in New York. Do you know how many sleepless nights I spent? How many nights I drank and partied and passed out and had to get Adam to save me? That happened because of you. My life spiraled out of control because of you and I don't want that to happen again. So please, can we just…forget about this and go back home?"

Without a word, Eli started down the forest path, leaving Clare standing alone. She slowly went to follow him and she waited for any sort of reply from his but received none. He was mute the entire way to the car, was mute when he opened her door, mute when he started driving, and mute all the way back to the park.

When they reached the park, Eli turned off the car and sat idly with his hands on the steering wheel facing the front. Clare turned her head slowly and looked at Eli, who's gaze turned to his lap.

"I'm sorry," he whispered almost silently. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Clare took a deep breath and looked ahead. "Then why did you?"

"I…I guess I thought I would hurt you sooner or later," he admitted sadly. "So I thought I'd end it before I could."

"It didn't cross your mind that by breaking up with me you'd be doing the most damage?"

Eli shook his head. "It didn't. I didn't realize it. Not until it was too late."

For some reason, Clare refused to believe that this was the reason why he broke up with her. But she didn't say anything else but, "Am I going to see you at the wedding?"

A small smile tugged on Eli's lips but he didn't look up to look at Clare. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Clare reached her hand over to touch Eli's shoulder. "I'll see you then."

Finally looking over, Eli and Clare's eyes met each others with the most intense gaze. Their eyes were their favorite features on each other. Eli had the most hypnotic green eyes while Clare had the blue, serene, and heavenly colored eyes and every time they looked at each other they couldn't help but notice. Although their exterior features changed after several years, their eyes remained constant. They both still had that effect on each other and the two looked away a minute later, both blushing and embarrassed.

"Bye," Clare muttered and left Morty in a hurry. She ran back to her car as she heard thunder rumbling in the sky. Right when she closed the door of her car, rain started to fall. And at the same time, Clare began to cry.

* * *

Spending the day at his loft, Eli sat on his black couch with his feet on the coffee table in front of him. He held a bottle of beer in his hand but it remained untouched by his lips. He seriously had the need to just forget about what happened two days before and alcohol was the best way to do it for him but he couldn't bring himself to drink it.

For the last two days, Eli was either watching tv, eating junk food, sleeping, or sketching houses. His house was becoming a little dirty seeing as he didn't even bother to clean up after himself when he finished a bag of chips or finished his plate of food.

When a knock came on the door, Eli groaned to himself and contemplated not answering it. When the pounding came louder, Eli cursed and walked to the door. Not even bothering to look through the peep hole, Eli just opened the door almost violently and muttered, "What?"

"You look like hell."

Rolling his eyes, Eli just opened the door more and walked back to his comfy spot on the couch. "What do you want Adam?"

"I want to know why Clare is all of a sudden really distant," Adam replied after he shut the door. "She told me you and her saw each other briefly and that was it. She stopped talking and it looked like she wanted to cry. So what'd you do to her?"

"Why do you assume that it was all my fault?" Eli said harshly. "What if she did something?"

"I'm guessing you both did something," Adam said. "Now what did you do? Or what did she do? Just, for the love of God, tell me what happened. I hate seeing both of you so depressed."

"We kissed," Eli said in a breath and Adam's eyes got huge.

"You…kissed? Like, a three second no tongue kiss or—"

"Oh, there was tongue and lots of it," Eli answered. "She kissed me back though and she pushed me away before it got any worse."

"Dude," Adam shook his head and sighed. "She's engaged. She's getting married and you kissed her. No wonder she's upset."

Eli held his head in his hands and leaned his elbows on his knees. "I can't believe I'm going to go see the love of my life getting married. Why did I tell her that I was going to be there? I'm such an idiot."

"Well number 1, you don't have to go," Adam reminded him. "It's not like you're being forced to go. I would understand if you weren't there and deep down, I think you know that Clare would understand too. And number 2, you are an idiot. You're an idiot for letting go the best thing that's ever happened to you. Do you think you would've gotten over your hoarding without her? Or gotten over your grudge against bullies? No, you needed Clare for that and you just…you gave her away. Are you ever going to tell her exactly why you broke up with her? I think she deserves to know."

"It doesn't even matter anymore," Eli sighed. "She's getting married tomorrow and what happened with us in the past will be irrelevant."

"That's what you think bro," Adam patted Eli's shoulder. "Am I going to see you tomorrow?"

"I don't know," Eli said honestly. "I don't think I can handle seeing Clare looking beautiful in a wedding dress without me being the one she's standing next to. I can't…"

"I'll tell you all about it then, if you want me to," Adam promised. Eli nodded and looked down at his shaking hands. "I'll talk to you soon, Eli. Call me if you need me, okay?"

"Will do," Eli replied.

Adam began walking towards the door but turned around. "Oh and Eli?"

"Yeah?" he replied without looking back.

"Take a damn shower, you smell like the Degrassi boys locker room," Adam joked. Eli turned his head to give Adam a glare and the younger boy held up his hands and laughed. When Adam left, Eli took Adam's suggestion and took a shower and as he cleaned his body, he felt more relaxed. After getting out of the shower, he decided to clean up around his place. He remembered that he never had to clean this much since cleaning his room during his junior year after the hoarding became too much. He and Clare spent endless weekends cleaning up the clutter and his hoarding was finally resolved. Having to clean up his place took him back to those days and he shuddered at the thought of things being that messy again.

It took a little while but Eli's place was finally clean again. When he finished, he tied up the large trash bag and headed towards the door of the complex. His place was on the second floor so it didn't take long for him to get to the front door. He saw that it was raining outside and he groaned, not wanting to get wet but not wanting to just leave the large bag of trash. So he planned to run as fast as he could to the dumpster to dump the trash bag but when he ran outside, he almost ran into a figure.

"What…" Eli said breathlessly. Clare stood at the sidewalk in front of Eli's complex, soaked to the bone. "What are you doing here?"

After spending thirty seconds in the pouring rain, Eli was soaked as well. He dropped the trash bag onto the sidewalk and stared into the eyes of the love of his life. He couldn't tell if she was crying or anything, seeing as the rain made it fuzzy between them. All he knew was that she was there and she was waiting for him. _Why else would she be here?_

"Are you okay?" Eli asked when Clare said nothing.

"Why did you break up with me?" Clare shouted above the rain. "Why?"

"I-I told you already," Eli stuttered.

"That's a bunch of bull and you know it," she replied violently. "Breaking up with me before you could hurt me is the most ridiculous excuse. So tell me exactly why you broke off our three year relationship. Tell me why you threw it all away. Tell me why—"

"Because I couldn't handle the thought of your reaction when I would tell you that I kissed someone else!" Eli shouted.

Taking a step back, Clare said, "You kissed someone else when we were together?"

"I did," Eli admitted. "It was a late night, my roommates were having a party, we all got pretty wasted and this girl kissed me and I kissed back but I don't even remember who she was and how it got to that point but I remembered kissing her and feeling like a complete jackass."

When Clare said nothing, Eli continued. "I was scared that you'd find out and I was scared that I'd do it again so I ended it with you before I could do anything worse to you. College was so full of desires and mistakes that I knew I couldn't control so I cut it off. But the stupid thing is that I didn't even look at another girl like that during the rest of my time there. I wanted to call you and ask for your forgiveness but by that time, Adam told me that you were finally doing okay and I didn't want to ruin it. I made mistakes, Clare. I made so many and making you suffer because of them was the last thing I wanted."

Eli didn't see Clare's response coming. The slap that he received on the side of his face thundered louder than the thunder in the sky. Eli held his cheek as he took in the pain that he knew he deserved. Clare looked absolutely furious and for some reason, Eli still thought that she was adorable and beautiful.

"You made me go through all of that just because you kissed someone when you where drunk?" Clare yelled. "I would've understood if you explained it to me, Eli! I thought that you would've given me more credit that being a completely misunderstanding girlfriend. Here I was, torturing and ruining myself thinking that I wasn't good enough for you when the reason was because you just made a little mistake. What was going through your damn mind Eli? Break my heart and things will end up okay for me? You are so stupid!"

"Oh, we're at name calling now?" Eli joked slightly. "I thought that I'd end up doing it again, okay? I thought that…"

"You thought that I was some naïve little girl that couldn't forgive," Clare shook her head. "I would've forgiven you Eli and we could've made it work!"

"Well it's too late for that now, isn't it? You're getting married tomorrow and this entire conversation shouldn't even matter right now! So why are you really here? You couldn't have driven out here just to ask me why I broke up with you."

The water dripped down from Eli's hair, over his face, and dripped down to the ground. He was soaked, as was Clare, but for some reason, neither even went to a place to get away from the rain. They barely even noticed the rain actually as their focus was solely on each other.

"I…I wanted…I…" Clare was stuttering terribly and she couldn't even get her words out.

Eli stepped closer and thought that Clare would move backwards but she didn't. So he moved forward again and was just two inches away from Clare. She stood still.

"You wanted?" Eli whispered over the rain.

Clare looked up and squinted her eyes, trying to avoid the water getting into her eyes. "I wanted to know if you…"

"If I…?" Eli hesitantly snaked his left arm around Clare's waist and his other hand went around her cheek.

"If you ever stopped loving me," she finally said, dropping her head slightly.

Eli tilted Clare's chin up so she would look at him. And with a serious and solemn voice, he replied. "Not even for a second."

Their lips were just a few centimeters away from each other and they both looked at each others' lips. They were too inviting, too captivating, too familiar. When Eli slowly leaned down to close the gap between them, Clare pulled away slowly.

"I can't," she whispered. "I…"

"You can't," Eli sighed. "You're…getting married."

"And we…" Clare said. "We're…"

"In the past," Eli finished sadly.

"Yeah," Clare replied with a cracked voice. "In the past." She put a hand on Eli's cheek and pressed a lingering kiss on his opposite cheek, both closing their eyes to savor the moment. But when Clare finally stepped backwards a considerable amount of space, Eli knew that it would be for the last time.

"Goodbye Eli," she breathed.

"Bye Clare," he said.

And she walked away.

* * *

Clare squeezed the water from her hair as she sat on the edge of the tub. She changed into her comfortable sweats and didn't bother taking a shower seeing as she stood long enough in the rain to be squeaky clean. She stared aimlessly at the wall of the bathroom, thinking about her afternoon. After her last meeting with Alli before the wedding, she found herself asking Adam for Eli's address and she drove there not knowing exactly what she'd say. But then when the two met in the rain, everything Clare thought about love went out the window.

She knew that Eli loved her and still did. He didn't want to hurt her so he broke up with her. Terrible logic but she understood. But she hated that he didn't give her much credit. Clare had prepared herself for something like that to happen eventually seeing as the two were hundreds of miles apart and Eli was a _guy_. But she was never given the chance to forgive.

Not until it was too late and she was already engaged.

"Did you forget that I was coming home tonight?"

Startled, Clare jumped and dropped her towel to the ground. Landon was leaning on the doorway of the bathroom with a smile on his face. Clare's mouth was dropped slightly and she was surprised. She had forgotten that Landon was coming home…_the night before their wedding_.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to come over here and welcome me home?"

Taking a deep breath, Clare smiled and walked over to her fiancé and wrapped her arms around his torso. "I'm glad you're back," she breathed over his shoulder.

"Me too, my love," Landon replied. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Clare said honestly.

Landon tightened his grip around Clare and pressed a kiss on the side of her head. "I can't believe that by this time tomorrow, we'll be married."

"I know," she replied, adjusting her head on Landon's shoulder and looking blankly on the opposite wall. "I can't believe it either."

**Okay soo…yeah. Next chapter will be the wedding. Be prepared. Please review and make some predictions! I'd love to hear what you guys think will happen!**

**And go read my new one-shot, I know you'll love it! :)**


	6. Start of Forever

**Last chapter! Then an EPILOGUE! So watch out for that! Enjoy!**

The day that Clare had dreamed of since her childhood finally came. She sat at her vanity watching as Alli did her makeup and her mom fixed up her hair to an up-do. She was already wearing her wedding dress which was modest and white and also a modern version of her mom's. Her expression was a bit lost and Alli and her mom thought that it was just nerves. It was partly nerves, considering that she was about to make the biggest commitment of her life and any bride would be thinking about it on her wedding day. But it was also that nagging feeling in the back of her brain that she wished would go away. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't let go of that feeling. Also, the fact that it was overcast in the sky was making her a bit anxious. It was drizzling that morning and they managed to get a large tent to go over the backyard but if it rained hard, it would ruin everything.

"Come on Clare! You should be smiling!" her mother exclaimed. "You're about to marry this wonderful man who loves you. Can't you show a little bit more enthusiasm?"

Clare did her best to put a smile on her face. "I'm happy," she said in a pretty convincing voice. "I am, really. I'm just…sad that Darcy couldn't be here."

"You know that Kenya's near to her heart," Helen explained. "When the relief program called her, she just couldn't refuse." Just a month prior, Darcy got a call from the organization she was working with in Kenya to take a follow up visit and see how everything was going. Seeing as how she adopted her son from Kenya, she had to go but was sad that she would have to miss her baby sister's wedding.

"I understand," Clare sighed. "Make sure the photographer takes tons of pictures. Darcy would never forgive us if we didn't take enough that made her happy."

Helen laughed and carefully set Clare's diamond headband onto her head. "I will honey." She paused for a second and looked at her youngest daughter in the mirror and began to tear slightly. Clare quietly groaned and turned around in her seat in order to comfort her mother.

"Mom, please don't cry," she pleaded. "If you cry, I might cry, and that'll make Alli upset because she'll have to do my makeup over again."

"That's right," Alli laughed. This made Helen laugh slightly and she cleared her nose and ran her finger slightly underneath her eyes in order to avoid ruining her makeup.

"I'm going to go downstairs before I weep," Helen said and she exited the room still sniffling.

Right when the door closed behind Helen, Alli spun Clare around in her chair and stood in front of her with her hands on her hips. "Okay Clare, we both know that the reason you're distant is not just because of Darcy. Could it be a certain dark haired boy that recently came back into your life?"

"Alli, please," Clare whined. "I don't want to talk about this right now. I really don't."

"We better talk about this now before you do something you really don't want to do," Alli replied sternly. "You may have wanted to marry Landon before but things may have changed since Eli came back. I know you don't want to admit this but Eli..."

"Is in my past," Clare interrupted. "Even he agrees. We don't go well together, okay? We're too different."

"And you and Landon aren't polar opposites either?" Alli scoffed. Clare tilted in her head in surprise and motioned for Alli to continue, which she did. "Landon's an atheist, he hates bright colors, he hates kids, he's not all that considerate of others feelings…"

"Like when?" Clare asked.

Alli tauntingly pretended to think. "Well…remember when you, me, your parents, Landon, and Landon's parents had lunch together to discuss where the wedding would happen? You wanted a church, he flat out denied. You offered an unused church, still no. His parents were willing to compromise, Landon still said no. Your parents were so upset."

"He has his reasons," Clare defended. She remembered that day vividly. She was so upset with him for not even considering it but eventually she accepted Landon's idea of having it in the backyard, that way it was a small, closed-knit ceremony and they wouldn't have to worry about the costs.

"Clare, you're making excuses for him," Alli pointed out. "That's all you've been doing ever since you started dating him, ever since you got engaged. I know you love him Clare, that's obvious, but are you _in love_ with him?"

Before Clare could answer, there was a knock on the door. Alli rolled her eyes and went to the door, cracked it open just enough to see who was there.

"Hey Al, can I see Clare for a few minutes?"

"Go ahead," Clare heard Alli say. She turned around to see Alli stepping out of the room and a suit-clad Adam closing the door behind him.

"What are you doing here?" Clare asked as politely as she could. "I didn't want that to sound rude or anything but…I'm kind of busy."

"I just needed to ask you something," he replied, sitting down on the stool beside Clare's seat.

"I know what you're going to say Adam and I've heard the lecture from Alli already," Clare said, flailing her arms around. "You're gonna say that I'm in love with Eli and that I should be with him and not Landon. You're gonna say that I should give Eli a chance. You're gonna say that I'm making a huge mistake and that I should just call off the wedding. Well…have you imagined what has been going through my mind since Eli visited me? He was the love of my life and he threw my heart away, stomped on it, and I never actually got it back! And when he came back he just thought that thing would go back the way it was, I'd go back crawling into his arms and be with him but it's not that simple! How am I supposed to trust someone who's hurt me so much before?"

Clare was already standing up and pacing around the room with Adam just watching intently. "Landon loves me and I love him and there's no way that I could just break his heart like that just because Eli Goldsworthy is back in my life. Landon doesn't deserve the kind of pain that I've gone through. But…I'm not _in love_ with him okay? I'm not _in love_ with him the way I was with Eli. And that's just the thing! I **was** in love with Eli. I'm not anymore. I'm **not**. And I'm going to marry Landon and be happy. So just spare me your lecture because I don't want to hear it, okay?" Clare let out a deep breath and put her hands on her hips, trying to get her breathing back. She looked over at Adam, who still said nothing. It was as if he was paralyzed and had no words. "What?"

Adam cleared his throat and looked around awkwardly. "I was just gonna ask if wanted a bookshelf I found at this one vintage shop. I knew you've been wanting to buy a new one and I found the perfect one so…"

Stunned, Clare closed her eyes and shook her head, chuckling to herself. She sat down at the edge of the bed, laughing quietly. "So…you weren't coming in here to lecture me?"

"No," Adam replied with a shaking head. "I didn't think you'd want to hear that on your wedding day. Besides, I saw the Alli lecture coming. She called me yesterday asking if I've talked to you yet."

Clare looked down at her hands and saw the glistening diamond on her left ring finger. Lifting it up, she titled her head to examine it. She felt the bed dip down beside her and Adam had taken her right hand and held it in his.

"If you want to marry Landon, then marry him. No one can tell you what you want to do. Only you know exactly what you want to do and only you can make that decision. So don't let Alli or your mom or me or anyone for that matter influence what you want to do, Clare. So what do you want to do?"

* * *

Eli was sitting on the couch with his formal clothing on. He had a red striped dress shirt on with black pants. He even slicked back his hair a little to change things up a bit. And he had his shoes on, keys in his hand, but didn't move.

He reconsidered going to Clare's wedding. He told her that he wouldn't miss it for the world. But he knew that he couldn't handle seeing it.

Sighing, he stood up and headed for the door. In his new car, which he bought just a few months back, he started to drive. Until he ended up at the lake house.

He entered, set down his keys on the kitchen counter, and stood in the middle of the first floor. It was a bit dark considering that it was slightly dark outside with all of the heavy looking clouds. He wished that it wouldn't rain during the wedding ceremony. He knew that if it did, it would be disastrous for the wedding and Clare would not like that one bit.

Looking around, he wished that he had bought at least a couch or a chair so when he came he'd have something to sleep on or just sit on. And at least some food. _He was starving_.

Eli simply sat on the wooden floor, not caring that it was dirty and that his black pants would get dust all over it. He just sat down and looked out the massive window. The clouds were even darker now and he saw thunder in the far vicinity. Rain was definitely in the forecast for Clare's wedding.

_Clare's wedding_. Eli cursed at himself in his mind. This was supposed to be him. He was supposed to be with Clare, marry Clare, have a future with Clare. And he threw it away because of stupid decisions.

Angry and frustrated, Eli ran to his keys and left the lake house with a large crash from the front door. He couldn't stay in his empty place. He had to go.

* * *

"You look beautiful honey," Randall Edwards said to his youngest daughter as they waited for their turn to walk down the aisle. The flower girls just went down the aisle and after Jenna and Alli, it would be Clare's turn. Her stomach was flipping around and her palms were slightly sweating. Her grip on her dad's arm tightened a little bit and Randall sensed it. "You okay Clare-Bear?"

"Yeah," Clare sighed. "Just…butterflies."

Randall nodded understandingly and the two faced the front and waited. The wedding march started and Clare heard the scuffling of feet of people standing up. Randall and Clare began to walk and turned a corner, finally facing outside and directly across from Landon, his best man who was his brother, Alli, Jenna, and the minister. Taking a deep breath, Clare began walking down the white fabric on the ground.

She felt like this walk was taking forever. Like the aisle was a million miles long and she could never get down to the end of the aisle. From her peripheral vision, over her veil, she saw Adam sitting with Fiona Coyne. Fiona only looked slightly different from when Clare saw her last. She was still utterly gorgeous. Clare noticed that the two were holding hands and a slight smile grew on her face.

Her mother was slightly tearing and Clare gave her a comforting smile. She also saw her grandparents who were gleaming with pride. And all of a sudden, she was at the end of the aisle and her father stopped her from walking and turned her slightly. Clare felt her veil being lifted, a kiss being pressed on her cheek, and a warm body leaving her side.

Clare didn't even feel like she was in her body. It was as if she was outside her body, just watching herself maneuvering around lifelessly. Her face had a blank expression as she handed off her bouquet to Alli and her face didn't falter when she turned to face Landon who had a gleaming smile on his face.

"I love you," Clare heard Landon say faintly. She couldn't even bring herself to respond. Her mind was floating on a cloud as the minister began talking. She picked up a few words here and there but all she could do was stare blankly everywhere. At Landon, at the minister, at the people in the crowd, at the tarp above her. She wasn't there. Her mind was gone. She wasn't Clare.

"Wait!"

Clare whipped her head around fast at the intrusion and smiled and sighed when she saw who was walking down the aisle. Darcy and Mark, her son, were walking swiftly down towards her and she squealed when Darcy practically tackled her down with a massive hug.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Darcy said very apologetically. "Flight was delayed."

"That's okay Darce, just as long as you're here," Clare said happily. She leaned down quickly to give Mark a hug and the two went to take their seats beside Helen and Randall. Clare turned her head back and her smile slowly went away.

"Let's keep going," Landon said through his teeth, obviously annoyed at the intrusion.

The minister continued and Clare was gone again. This time, her mind wandered to the last thing she wanted to think of. Eli's green eyes popped into her mind when she looked at someone's dress. How she loved to look in them, how she examined them when he told her that she had pretty eyes when she was thinking the exact same thing about him. How much she loved them and how much she missed looking into them.

* * *

"_I love you Clare," Eli said as he held Clare's hand at the airport. "I always will." He was going to NYU and this would be the last time they saw each other until Thanksgiving. Clare was already crying waterfalls as the two stood in the middle of the airport._

"_I love you too," Clare croaked out. "I'm going to miss you so much."_

_Eli pulled Clare to him and held her tightly to his body. Clare responded by wrapping her own arms around his torso and cried into his jacket. "You are the love of my life Clare," Eli whispered. "After college or whenever you want, we can start a life together. We'll be together forever Clare, I just know it. We're so perfect for each other and there is no way that I could live without you. I'm so in love with you."_

_Clare leaned up and kissed Eli with as much passion as she could muster up at that time. Her hands went up to hold Eli's head in place as she made sure he knew how much she loved him. After the kiss, Eli pressed a lingering kiss on Clare's forehead._

"_I'll miss you," Clare whispered with her eyes closed._

_Eli leaned down to see Clare's face and whispered, "This isn't goodbye okay? This is just the start of forever."_

_Nodding, Clare kissed Eli one more time and stepped away from him. He started walking down to the ticketing booth and she turned around and began walking the opposite direction. A minute later, she looked back to see if Eli was doing the same and lo and behold, he was. He gave a wave to her as she replied with a kiss she blew with her hand. Finally, the two turned around and went their separate ways._

"_This is just the start of forever," they told themselves._

* * *

"I object!"

Clare didn't even realize that the minister had said "Speak now or forever hold your peace" until she heard a voice clearly objecting to what was going on. She could hear gasps from the crowd and she finally got around to looking at Landon and saw a surprised and slightly worried look on his face.

Clare had imagined anger to be Landon's reaction to someone objecting to their marriage but he wasn't angry. She whipped her head around, wanting to see Eli standing there, but instead there was a blonde haired girl wearing a pink floral dress standing near the end of the aisle. She was one of the guests, Clare was sure, seeing as there was an empty seat near where the girl was standing. She didn't know who she was because she sat on Landon's side and she had never seen her before.

"I can't let you do this, Landon," the girl said. She began walking up the aisle towards Landon and Clare and Clare could see that Landon was getting more and more anxious with each step the blonde girl was taking.

"Landon, I can't let you make this mistake."

At the word mistake, everyone gasped. Even the minister gasped slightly. But Clare didn't. She was still out of her own body.

"I thought that letting you go would be easy but I was wrong," the girl continued. "You told me that I was in the past and that we had to move on. You love Clare and you wouldn't want to hurt her but you didn't see how much it was hurting me! After spending these past few days with me…you still chose Clare over me. I'm sorry but I love you too much to let you do this and I know that you love me too. You're just too afraid to admit it."

"Wait!" Alli yelled. "So you," she pointed at Landon, "spent your 'business trip' with this…this tramp!"

"Don't call her a tramp," Landon replied and Clare stepped back, getting closer to Alli and Jenna now. Landon turned his attention to the girl. "You're right…I was too afraid to admit it."

He turned to Clare and wanted to step closer to her but he didn't. He just continued to talk. "Clare, the last thing I wanted to do was hurt you. You've been the most special and wonderful girl in my life for the past few years but…Amelia, she was my past. She was my first love and I've realized that…I never really got over her. I'm so sorry."

And all of a sudden, Clare was finally in her body. She stared into Landon's eyes, seeing his regret and apology in them and looked at Amelia, who obviously wasn't there to make a huge scene. She was simply there to stop the man she loved from making a mistake.

Everyone expected Clare to be yelling but when Clare said nothing and just started walking away, they got confused. She heard a bunch of "where are you going" and "what are you doing" behind her but Clare walked away.

She walked back down the aisle, back into the house, and grabbed her car keys and headed towards the garage. When she pulled out of the garage she saw that it was raining pretty hard. But she didn't care. Her phone, which she grabbed while getting her keys, was ringing beside her. She saw that Alli, her parents, Darcy, Jenna, Adam, and everyone else was calling her but she still didn't pay attention. She drove and drove and drove until she got to her destination.

* * *

A new couch was placed in the middle of the first floor of the lake house. Eli had gotten one of his friends at the furniture warehouse to help him bring the couch into the place and they had gotten it in before the rain poured down on them. The fridge was stocked up too, finally. There was a bunch of junk and soda in there, along with a few bottles of beer that Eli knew he'd eventually throw away.

For a few hours, he sat idly on his couch with a bunch of soda and chips all around him. Watching the rain pummel down on the lake was one of his favorite things to do as well. To him, it was peace. To him, it was sanctuary.

By the time he looked at the time on his watch, it was already 5:30, meaning the wedding must be over and the reception would be going on. He wanted to go, he really did, but when he started driving down to Clare's place he saw a furniture store and decided to just get a couch rather than watch his heart get ripped into pieces.

Eli decided that he'd move into the lake house. He wanted to use the place when he was going to start a family but he wanted it now. He didn't really care that he'd be alone in the house. He just wanted to use it. So after buying the couch, he ordered a bedroom set, a living room set, some appliances for the kitchen, and other stuff he thought he'd need. He also even managed to pack up some things at his condo. And he also signed the papers saying he'd be selling his place. The lake house would be the beginning of his future. Everything would start there.

His phone was dead and sitting beside him. Instead of charging it, he just left it dead. He knew that Adam would eventually call and tell him that Clare was officially married and tell him all the details but he just wasn't ready yet. All he wanted to do was wallow in his own self-pity and gain some weight from all the junk he was eating.

"You owe me twenty bucks."

Slowly, Eli turned his head towards the voice and practically jumped when he saw a damp, wedding dress wearing Clare at the door. He stood up cautiously and started walking towards her. _Man, she's breathtaking. Wait…why is she here…in her wedding dress?_

"What?" he replied confused.

"Adam brought Fiona," Clare clarified.

Eli's mouthed turned into an "o". "Ohhh. Well…I don't have to money on me right now."

"That's okay," Clare replied and stepped closer. "I think I'd like this better."

Closing the space between them, Clare took Eli's head and pulled it down to her, capturing his lips in a searing kiss. It didn't take long for Eli to respond and pull Clare closer to him, wrapping his arms around Clare's waist.

Eventually they pulled away and looked into each other's eyes. Neither one had to say a word. He was hers and she was his. Finally.

_This is the start of forever._

* * *

**Well? I hope you guys enjoyed! Wait for the EPILOGUE, which will hopefully come out next weekend! I'm off to watch Halo Pt. 1 and I'm super stoked!**

**Please review! I'd love to know what you guys thought of the chapter and how everything turned out! And what would you like to see in the epilogue?**

**Review guys! Thanks for reading!**


	7. She

**I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LONG DELAY. BUT I THINK YOU'LL ENJOY THIS CHAPTER. PLEASE REVIEW AT THE END!**

* * *

"You know…I never thought I'd see the day when a man's collection of clothing exceeds the woman's. You see this side? This is mine. Your see that entire side, that's yours. This just isn't right."

Clare gestured her entire arm to Eli's side of the walk-in closet. About ¾ of the closet was taken up by Eli's collection and variety of clothing, from his work dressy clothes to his casual clothing that he wore at home or on random days. **Three** entire shelves were devoted to Eli's leather jackets and another **two** were just his vests. Clare had her folded sun dresses **and** jean skirts all in one shelf. One wall was Clare's and the rest were Eli's. The table island in the middle were devoted to their shoes. It was only the shoes that Clare could surpass Eli.

"Well excuse me for actually caring about my appearance," Eli teased. "As you may very well know, I'm not like most guys."

"Obviously," Clare muttered under her breath. She turned her one of her shelves and fixed a few shirts and continued to mutter. "Doesn't surprise me that practically all of the clothes are black, either."

Not actually intending for Eli to hear her comments, she slightly jumped when she felt a pair of hands touch her waist behind her. Even after years together in their teenage years **and** being together for almost a year after Clare's disastrous almost wedding, Clare was still sensitive to Eli's touch.

"What was that?" Eli whispered in Clare's ear, making shivers trickle down her spine and her face warm.

"Nothing," she squeaked out nervously. She tried to focus on something else other than the burning feeling of Eli's grip on her waist and the warm air near her ears but to no avail. Clare hated that even after she and Eli moved in together, the slight touches still made her knees weak.

Eli spun Clare around to face him and she felt herself being trapped between Eli's larger body and her side of the closet. His arms were firmly around her waist at this point and his forehead was firmly against hers and he breathed in, taking in her scent along with the sweet smell of the laundry detergent that her clothes gave off. He took a hand and placed it behind her neck and slightly titled her head up so he could look into her eyes. Or so she could see what he would do next.

Clare almost groaned when she felt Eli's lips pressing soft kisses to her sensitive neck. Her breathing picked up quickly and she could barely contain the moan boiling up in her throat as Eli added her teeth into the mix, grazing along the skin of her neck, right under her ear…

"Ooooh," Clare breathed out unable to contain herself. She was under Eli's spell quickly as he attacked her sweet spot with his tongue and teeth. Her hand traveled up his arm, over his chest sensually, around the back of his neck, and she suddenly pulled on his hair and made his head tilt up from her neck.

"Wha—" Eli began to say but Clare cut him off with her lips. He was slightly shocked seeing as Clare was never so rough but hey, he's a guy. It's not like he would be too quick to pull away from the mind-blowing kiss that Clare was giving him.

Aside from the kiss, which included tongue and all, Eli was shivering all over as Clare's hands just couldn't contain themselves. They were running all over his body slowly, over his shoulders, up and down his arms, around his back, slightly over his chest, and when her hands danced around the top of Eli's belt, he almost lost it. But when Clare's fingers traveled underneath his shirt and touched his hot skin, **that** was when he lost it.

_How in the world am I suppose to wait for us to get married?_ Eli groaned to himself as he raised up Clare's legs to wrap around his leg. _Good thing I'm proposing soon…there's no way I can wait for another year or two—oh my—"_

Clare's rolling hips cut Eli thought's off and he pressed himself closer to his soon-to-be fiancé and gripped her hair. Annoyingly, Eli forced himself to stop kissing Clare and pull away. He found it extremely hot that Clare was sporting an extremely flushed face and swollen lips. Her heaving chest and slightly low-cut shirt wasn't helping Eli's situation whatsoever either.

"We should stop now before we do something we regret," Eli breathed as his forehead stuck against his girlfriend's.

"Look at you…being the responsible one," Clare teased. She slowly stood up on the floor after Eli released her legs and adjusted her shirt and hair and tried to cool down her face.

"I think I'm done with my side of the closet," Clare said as Eli went back to folding his clothes and placing them on his shelves. "I'm going to go look around the place and see what else I can made girly."

"Not too girly, I hope," Eli replied. Clare stuck her tongue out playfully at him as she headed for the door. The closet was attached to their large bedroom along with their large master bathroom. She loved the fact that Eli had designed a large two-head shower for the bathroom along with a bathtub practically the size of a Jacuzzi. There were also two sinks, two mirrors, and two cabinets for the both of them. That way they wouldn't fight about who's stuff was who or having to make room for each other at the sink or the counter.

Clare slowly made her way around all of the second floor rooms to see what could be done and when she walked into Eli's office, she walked back out. She was not going to mess with that room, that was for sure. She also had her own office across his but when she and Eli were bringing in her desk from her old home to the lake house, she couldn't help but think that this room could end up being a child's bedroom one day. She hoped it would be. There was also another vacant bedroom but she didn't just want one child. She wanted several so all of the extra bedrooms, she hoped, would become actual bedrooms.

Clare was about to go down to the first floor again when she realized that she had yet to go up to the third floor; the room where she and Eli had their life changing kiss just a year ago. The two never mentioned that room again and even thought they spent a lot of time at the lake house (Eli never officially moved in until just recently with Clare), neither of them went back up there.

She made her way up the second flight of stairs, which she loved since it was a spiral one which made her feel like an absolute princess, she paused when she saw a few rose petals on one of the top steps. She looked up and saw that the number of rose petals were increasing as they got closer to the door so she stepped up and went to the door. Curious, she opened the door only to be surprised with a room filled with candles and vases of red roses. She saw a small box placed in the middle of the room with a folded note beside it with her name written on the front. It read:

_Clare,_

_The first thing I want to see in the morning and the last thing I want to see at night are you and your pretty eyes._

_You are my everything. You have been since I first ran over your glasses and every moment since._

_Will you marry me?_

_Eli_

Clare placed the note down and picked up the velvet box, opened it, and saw the most beautiful and modest diamond ring that she had ever laid her eyes on. It was small and gold with a sparkling diamond right dead in the center and without hesitation, she placed it on her left hand ring finger.

"Eli!" she yelled and turned around and started toward the door. She jumped when she saw Eli already leaning against the door frame. Nonetheless, she ran to him and hugged him tightly and teared up, staining his black shirt with her mascara.

"Does this mean yes?" Eli whispered as he wrapped his own arms around her waist.

"You bet it does," Clare replied and leaned up, kissing Eli like she never had before.

After an hour of mercilessly making out in the third floor room as the candles burned around them, creating a sweet aroma around the room, Clare finally pulled away and realized the position they were in. Eli was sitting against the wall with Clare firmly straddling his waist on his lap. She had her arms around his neck while his stayed firmly on her waist, never moving higher or lower. Clare felt like a teenager again and she laughed at the thought of having done this so many years ago.

"Why are you laughing?" Eli asked softly, tucking a curl behind Clare's ear, keeping his hand curled around her cheek.

"Nothing, I'm just…I'm so happy," Clare said honestly. "Being here with you, living with you, being engaged to you, going to marry you. Everything's just falling into place."

"I bet you're already planning every single detail in your head," Eli joked, giving Clare an honest smile.

"Maybe," Clare admitted. "I can't wait to tell Alli to bring out her wedding magazines again."

"There's one detail we should establish now," Eli said.

"What?"

"Which church are we getting married in?" Eli asked as he smiled.

"Really? You want to get married in a church?" Clare almost squealed. This was the last thing Clare expected. She was okay with not having her wedding in a church. Having already planned a backyard wedding, she didn't really mind having to do that over again or picking another place. Eli being an atheist and all, she never imagined their wedding being in a church.

"I want you to have your dream wedding," Eli told her. "And I know that getting married in a church is part of that dream. I will do anything, anything at all, for you to have your dream wedding, Clare. Even if you want pink flowers everywhere, I don't care at all just as long as I get to say "I do" when the minister asks me if I promise to take you as my lawful wedded wife in sickness or in health or richer or poorer. I will stop at nothing to make you feel like a princess that day and every day for the rest of our lives together. I'm so in love with you Clare Edwards. You deserve the entire world and for this one day, I'm hoping that I can give it to you."

With each word that Eli said, more and more tears kept building up in Clare's eyes. Right after his sweet speech, she kissed him chastely and closed her eyes as she settled her forehead on his. "I love you so much," she whispered. And with that, they spent another hour being love-sick teenagers, shamelessly making out on the floor.

* * *

Eli and Clare _Goldsworthy_ looked up from their table at the front of the modest sized reception hall when they heard the clinking of silverware on glass. It got everyone's attention and everyone turned to Adam Torres, looking very dashing in his classic black suit. He had his glass of wine in his hand and set down his spoon on the table before him and cleared his throat.

"Well…" he sighed, looking around the room. "I've been waiting for this day for many many years now and I am thrilled to be here as the best man to my best friend who finally married the woman of his dreams. Eli, ever since we battled for Dead Hand tickets, I knew that our friendship was more than a friendship. You're like a brother to me and not to diss Drew, but you've helped me more in my life than anyone. Well…actually, Clare has also been there for me more times than I can count. She, after all, is my age and therefore in the same grade as I was in high school and after Eli left for college, she and I were practically inseparable.

"You know… I never actually believed in the true love, fairytale thing when I was a teenager. I mean, come on, who actually has a fairytale ending. It's not like The Beast could actually magically turn all handsome just because Belle fell in love with him. That doesn't happen. But I watched this fairytale happen between my two absolute best friends right in front of my eyes and although it took many years, it still had its fairytale ending."

Adam looked over at Clare and Eli who's hands were firmly together and they were smiling, beaming up at the Best Man, who's speech was making Clare tear up and Eli completely happy. Taking another deep breath, Adam continued.

"Eli, now that you have your princess, I will kick your ass if you ever let her go and Clare, I expect you to keep him in line. Oh and your first child has to be named Adam, unless it's a girl and then I get to choose," he chuckled.

"You wish, Torres!" Eli shouted from his seat with his hand curved around his mouth.

Adam gave Eli a look. "Oh that's right, Clare makes all of the decisions, my bad."

Eli shook his head with a smirk planted on his face as Clare giggled beside him, tightening her grip around her _husband's_ fingers. As Adam took a small pause to drink from his cup, Eli quickly leaned over and kissed Clare softly and smiled at her, showing all of his teeth. He did this rarely but it seemed that today, the smile was permanently planted on his face and would not go away.

"Well I should wrap this up before you all get bored of me," Adam interrupted Clare and Eli's cute stare-off and said, "I love both of you so much. Clare, Eli, here's to you and your wonderful future together."

Everyone raised their glasses but Eli stood up, stopping everyone from taking a sip. "Actually," he said with his own glass in his hand. Clare looked up at him, confused and wondered what was going on.

"Since we had traditional vows during the wedding, I didn't get the opportunity to tell you all how I feel about Clare," Eli said looking around the room and then back at his _wife._ "We met after I brutally ran over her glasses with my hearse, Morty. I got out of the car and retrieved them for her and was taken aback at her stunning beauty. I flat out told her that she had pretty eyes and that was the first time I saw her blush and clearly, it wouldn't be the last."

Clare covered her red cheeks and everyone in the room laughed. Eli held out his hand at Clare and she took it but kept one hand still at her cheek. He continued to speak as he led Clare around the table and they stood in the middle of the dance floor in front of everyone.

"Clare's been through my tough times. She was there for me when I had my problems at school, my hoarding, my anger issues, she was there through it all. Even after our many years apart, I knew that she was still there for me and I was there for her. We were separated for seven long years and during that time, I was still so in love with her that I kept bothering Adam constantly asking how she was."

"That's true!" Adam replied with a shout. Eli and Clare looked over at him. He was sitting down at his table with his hand firmly attached to Fiona Coyne's. The two were dating officially for six months now and still going strong.

"When I saw her again, she was engaged," Eli sighed and Clare rolled her eyes. "But…although this is terrible to say, I'm so glad that that didn't work out because now I am married to the girl of my dreams. My angel and my savior. My one and only true love in life. Clare Diana _Goldsworthy_, I am so honored to call you my wife. I love you, beautiful."

Eli turned his head and nodded to the DJ, who gave him a thumbs up in response and started the music. Clare recognized this song; it was "She" by Elvis Costello, one of her favorite songs of all time. She faintly remembered the two of them listening to this song one time in Eli's room when it came on from his iPod. This was so many years ago that she was completely amazed that Eli remembered.

"_She may be the face I can't forget, the trace of pleasure or regret. Maybe be my treasure or the price I have to pay. She may be the song that summer sings, may be the chill that autumn brings. May be a hundred different things, within a measure of a day…_"

Eli sang the lyrics along with the song softly so only Clare could hear. She could not hide her blush and her smile as she looked deeply into the eyes of the man she loves and the man who loves her back. This moment was it. This moment was perfect.

The two moved slowly on the dance floor to keep the moment together last as long as possible. When the song finally ended, they heard faint clapping surrounding them but they didn't pay attention. Their attention was solely on each other and this moment.

"So Mrs. Goldsworthy," Eli said as a faster paced song came on but still slow enough for them to dance close together to. "Was this the wedding you've always dreamt of?"

"Well Mr. Goldsworthy," Clare replied sighing. "I can honestly say that…it was a million times better. Thank you for…just being exactly the way you are."

"You mean handsome, witty, intelligent, irresistible…"

"And obviously a tiny bit cocky," Clare teased, poking Eli's chest.

He poked his tongue out. "But you love me."

"I do," Clare smiled. "I do and I always will."

"Forever," Eli said, leaning down to lean his forehead against Clare's. "Never a day less."

* * *

**I thought I'd add a little bit of steam at the last chapter and obviously a bunch of fluff. I really like how this chapter turned out so I hope you did too! Thank you for sticking with me through the entire story even though it was a super short story! Hopefully I'll be updating my other stories and adding more eventually! I love you guys! Please REVIEW!**


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